Top 10 media release tips

Top 10 tips to make your media release a must-read

Except in a crisis or other exceptional circumstances, the days of mass mail-outs are over. Make sure you email your release to the right media outlets and individualise your approach. The media release should actually be a supporting document for your pitch or story.

Does your media release sound more like a brochure or a newspaper/magazine article? It should be the latter.

Have you incorporated an emotional angle or alternatively, are you telling a new story? Have you thought about what’s in it for the reader and what makes it unique?

Does the tone of the media release match that of your target media outlets?

Have you ensured your media release has been customised for broadcast media as opposed to print or digital media e.g. visual opportunities for television and interviewees or sound bites for radio?

Have you included a website or a call to action and appropriate contact details?

Is everyone who could be a spokesperson for this story available for media interviews and able to respond quickly?

Have you uploaded related images and videos online or in a file-sharing program such as Dropbox with a caption guide and credits for all images?

Have you pasted the text in the body of the email so it can be read on a mobile device? You can also attach a Word document but do not attach a pdf (this drives journalists mad)!

Will your subject line make the recipient want to open the email – is it short and sharp with something compelling like an interesting statistic from the release?